Far Cry 6 is the latest installment of a classic game series featuring a dangerous romp through a wild country where a dictator named Anton Castillo rules with an iron fist. This villain might not seem evil on the surface so much as he is enigmatic, but as you delve into the story, you will see what he truly is: a monster. There are significant opportunities to cause chaos on your path to taking down Castillo, and players should have a blast throughout this wild and brutal ride of a game!
Far Cry 6 stars your choice of either a male or female version of the main character Dani, but don’t worry; either option is canon to the story. After losing two close friends, Dani joins up with a local revolutionary group Libertad on the island nation of Yara in the Caribbean. The group starts small, but through Dani’s work, Libertad slowly but surely expands, moving closer to Castillo’s base as they systematically dismantle his power structure in an attempt for freedom. It’s a long and arduous journey, requiring grit and determination for the rebels to succeed. The overall plot revolves around the ending of a dictatorship but also uses family as a backdrop. Over the course of the game, Dani finds a new family in the close-knit but volatile Monteros despite an initial desire to flee to freedom in Miami. Dani allies with the family, soon finding them to be something special and ultimately changing for the better.
The diverse cast of characters are full of energy in Far Cry 6, and you learn about who they are through cutscenes, dialogue, and mission orders. Watching mission briefings is always a treat as the voice acting is absolutely exquisite. The range and depth of the voice actors are some of the best in the Far Cry series here and you won’t want to skip a single scene. There are many missions to undertake as well, making it’s fun to see the antics they perform to introduce the action and what challenges the characters need Dani to take on.
Far Cry 6 plays similarly to the rest of the series; you will run, drive, and fly through a massive open world, completing quests and making allies who will help you along the way. The more quests you complete, the more momentum you gain for the cause, enabling your fellow guerrillas to fight back against Castillo more effectively. Each new friend brings along new benefits, even if they aren’t part of the main story. Developing your allies will change the game as they take part in small support missions. It’s always better to have more than less after all!
During gameplay, you’ll find different locations held by Castillo, wipe out the enemy troops stationed there, and take the area over either with a friend or solo. Destroy the propaganda, kill the loyalists, and conquer Yara bit by bit! In fact, after the tutorial, it’s possible to play the rest of the game co-op with a friend. Far Cry 6 is of course enjoyable solo, but some missions are simply smoother with a friend and as an added bonus, there are even other missions built for co-op which are a ton of fun.
If Dani commandeers a vehicle, it can then be summoned at any vehicle station. Stations can call horses, boats, cars, trucks, and even flying vehicles. This freedom of choice is one of the main components that make the Far Cry series so great and the number of options in Far Cry 6 is excellent. After all, every vehicle could be useful in the right guerrilla’s hands! You will also need to collect all items lying abandoned across Yara and there are simply tons of them. Gasoline and scraps litter the landscape and you can find USBs with new soundtracks and important documents everywhere. Scavenging for parts and looking for these hidden items is part of your journey to become the savior of Yara and liberate your country. Oh, and don’t forget to keep on the lookout for roosters too!
Eventually, you’ll gain a variety of tools to proceed through areas that were previously inaccessible. The grappling hook for example allows you to scale mountains and there’s even a wingsuit, allowing you to soar from peak to peak across the islands. Safety is key in Far Cry 6 as falling from a decent height without opening the parachute will result in your immediate and untimely death. Dani is equipped with all the necessary gear but it is up to you to use that equipment wisely. Scaling mountains is particularly cool, incorporating some light platforming skill and a fair bit of determination to ascend to the top of the island’s mountains.
There are pets too! Pets! Bringing along an animal companion is made possible with the use of the amigo system. You will find several animal companions scattered across Yara that introduce additional elements to the Far Cry recipe. Amigos can be stealthy or blatantly vicious additions to the player’s arsenal and can help out quite a bit. Guapo the crocodile, for instance, is a vicious monster that will go straight for enemies’ jugulars while Chorizo, a paraplegic puppy, will lure enemies with his adorable demeanour so the player can sneak by or ambush and kill them.
As you take down enemies at different locations, you’ll start to unlock base camps which incorporate a simulation aspect into Far Cry 6. Your main base camp at Montero Farms holds the mercenary camp where you can direct allies to undertake missions. The mercenary camp is a great way to gather materials while playing the game, so don’t forget to use it wisely. It will likely be the first building you build and is quite helpful.
Using base camps, you can construct structures like the Guerrilla Garrison which supplies troops with better weapons or create buildings that bestow buffs for fishing, hunting, and even cooking. These buildings are important to survival, so choose wisely which you build in each camp. In true Far Cry style, you have free rein to build what you please, so take time to plan the layouts as each camp is a fair trip away from the others.
Remember those roosters? Across Yara, you can find roosters to use for the cockfighting minigame! Cockfighting in this game is akin to Mortal Kombat, with players fighting to decrease the opposing rooster’s health. While fighting in this minigame, roosters will get angrier and as the rage rises, moves will be enabled allowing you to wipe out your foe’s health bar. Aim to be the best cockfighter and gather all the roosters to decimate the rivals who stand before you.
As mentioned earlier, the voice acting in this game is superb, and with the characters looking so realistic, it’s hard not to anticipate how the next game will take the franchise even further. Giancarlo Esposito’s role as Anton Castillo is brilliant and his villain is easily one of the best in the series. Watching his smooth congeniality while he casually slaughters people and devalues human life really brings an added depth to the narrative and the rest of the voice acting is equally top-notch as well.
The soundtrack is also particularly interesting in Far Cry 6. There are plenty of songs to listen to and they all mesh well with the presentation of the game. Finding new songs to listen to while driving is fun too and sometimes Dani will even sing along, which is great when it happens. Music is important in Hispanic culture and the inclusion of so much ethnic music which many players may not have experienced before is a great way to facilitate inclusion and expand cultural experiences. Recognizing that was an excellent move by Ubisoft and it’s important to see Latino music given such a prominent role.
Far Cry 6 is the latest fantastic entry in an excellent series of fantastic games. Playing how you see fit and even bringing friends along for the ride is really opens up the gameplay and the core experience is always fun. Far Cry 6 tells a great story with a range of ups and downs, touching moments, and all the wild, zany insanity of past entries in the series. A new setting always does wonders for Far Cry and in the case of Far Cry 6, this is possibly the best the series has managed to date! I can’t wait to see what Ubisoft comes up with next because this one will be hard to top! Now, let’s not waste any more time because Dani has a dictator to overthrow! It’s time for you to help end Castillo’s reign!
Disclaimer: A review key was provided